Total pages in book: 33
Estimated words: 30556 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 153(@200wpm)___ 122(@250wpm)___ 102(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 30556 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 153(@200wpm)___ 122(@250wpm)___ 102(@300wpm)
“She was mine the first time I saw her. I’ve never had that happen before,” I say, looking straight into her eyes. “I sure didn’t think it could happen twice.”
The doorbell rings right at that moment and Robin drops her hand away from my arm. I didn’t realize how close I’d gotten to her, and I step back as I look around.
“That’s probably another delivery,” I say and see her cheeks are flushed. “Why don’t you unpack what you can and then you can come pick out what you’d like for your room when you’re finished? We can go over everything with your pay and all that, too.”
“Yeah, that’s great,” she says, and I duck out of the room.
I’m reminding myself more than anything that she’s here as my employee. I worked with countless women in the company and I never once felt tempted by any of them. But with Robin it’s more than temptation, it’s a fucking siren’s call, and I don’t know how long I can hold myself back.
When I open the front door the UPS guy is standing there with a hand truck full of boxes.
“Are you Anderson Davis?” the young guy asks, and I nod.
“Yeah, that’s me. Sorry, but I think I’ll have several days of deliveries since I just moved in.” The guy doesn’t say a word but just unloads the boxes on my doorstep and hands me a clipboard to sign.
I’m sure he’s busy, but everyone in this town has been so friendly that I’m taken aback by how cold he is. Oh well, they can’t all be nice. He goes back to his truck to get another load as I bring the boxes inside. I hear Robin coming down the stairs and it makes my heart happy that she’s here. Not just that there’s another person in the house, but it’s her that’s filling the space. It feels right.
“Hey, Anderson, can I leave my toothbrush in the hall bathroom?” Robin calls over my shoulder.
“Why don’t you put it in mine. That’s where I’ve got all the towels and stuff.”
There’s a loud crash outside the door and I turn around to see the UPS guy has knocked over the stack of boxes and is glaring at me.
“Hey, be careful, man,” I say as I walk over and grab some of the boxes, but the guy doesn’t move to help me. When I look back up at him I realize I was wrong. He wasn’t glaring at me, he’s glaring at Robin. “Is there a problem?” I ask him as I step in his line of sight.
“No.” He blinks a few times and then looks down at the mess he’s made.
“Good,” I say and slap the clipboard against his chest. “I can handle it from here.” There’s a moment of silence, but I’m still standing in his line of sight and I’m not going anywhere.
Finally, he grabs the cart and goes back to his truck. I stand on the porch and cross my arms as I watch him load it up and then get in and leave. I wait until he’s all the way down the driveway and out on the main road before I go back in and close the door.
“Is there something I need to know?” I ask as I go over to her. I can feel the anger still simmering on the surface just because of the way he looked at her.
“No, there’s nothing between me and him. We went on a date once and I think he thought it was more or that I had a good time.” She shrugs, but she looks sad and I can’t take it anymore.
“Hey,” I say, putting my hands on her arms and bringing her close. “I’m not mad at you. I just want to know if I should kick his ass.”
She laughs as I pull her against my chest, and I feel some of the worry leave her. Holding her right now is like holding Charlotte when she’s upset. I pat Robin’s back, and she must have the same thought because she starts to laugh.
“You’re pretty good at that,” she says as she looks up at me.
“Thanks.” I brush her hair off her cheek. “But I want you to let me know if you don’t feel safe. Or if you need me to take care of you.”
She nods, and after a moment she steps back from me. I don’t want to let her go, but I decide not to push things right this second. She’s living here now, and we’ve got time to let things grow. I have no idea what I’m doing anyway, so this is something I’m going to have to let her help me figure out. Just like being a dad.
“Why don’t we pick out what you want while Charlotte is napping?” I offer, and Robin smiles excitedly.